Grey’s Anatomy 12×20 – Trigger Happy

I hate when Shonda Rhimes uses her shows to promote a political agenda. She’s done it over and over again on Scandal, but it’s not quite as odd there as it is here on a show that’s supposed to be a soapy medical drama.

What really doesn’t work about Trigger Happy is how it looked less like an episode of television and more like an after-school special. The topic of gun control comes up when a kid with a gunshot wound is admitted into the hospital, and it’s revealed that his friend was the one who accidentally shot him after the two boys stumbled upon a gun inside the house. This stirs up a bunch of conversations between our doctors, and every single one was way over the top and ridiculously heavy-handed.

I can almost forgive the show for not bringing up the characters’ trauma from the epic season six finale if it were at least going to shed some light onto the patients’ story, but after 40 minutes of cringe-inducing drama, the episode left me feeling hollow. It had zero emotional impact on me (or the main characters), and that’s quite bizarre for a show that’s constantly trying to draw parallels from its procedural aspect, and all I’m left wondering is “why did this episode even exist?”

It comes as no surprise that every scene that includes Meredith is a winning scene. I sound like a broken record, but I love seeing this character grow over the years, and it was delightful seeing her happy and cheerful in her hilarious subplot with Stephanie. I don’t know who decided to pair these two together, but it’s genius because these two women were hysterical in their scenes discussing online dating and accidental texts. And we finally saw those kids again!

It’s a huge tonal shift as the episode juggles a serious gun-safety storyline with a very lighthearted online-dating one while still cramming an Arizona/Callie fight. I found it odd and nonsensical that Arizona wouldn’t at least let Callie talk in the beginning of the episode, but as the hour went along I found myself completely ignoring Callie’s side in this. The writers attempting to make us side with both teams fails miserably because Penny is such a non-character on this show and Callie’s pigheadedness on not wanting to leave Sofia with Arizona is just not logical. Looking up schools in NYC and handing out brochures to your ex-wife is a terrible, terrible move too.

Even worse is Ben’s new storyline. I’m kind of glad (and surprised) the show remembered this guy was an anesthesiologist but I’m equally upset there’s been little to no ramifications to him going rogue and killing a pregnant woman and her child in the process. He’s been suspended for six months but only from the OR, and why this episode neglected to show what this has done to Ben’s psyche (much like Scandal this week) is as frustrating as this entire hour.

Bits & Scalpels

– Amusing opening scene with Meredith, Amelia and Maggie with the kids in the bathroom. And Meredith in jeans is a pleasant change!

– I can’t stop smiling every time Meredith laughs. Her reaction to Stephanie accidentally sending her a dirty text that was supposed to go to Kyle was epic.

-M ore on why this was heavy-handed: let’s get all of our doctors onto the ambulance bay and play a song that’s very Taylor Swift (but in case you’re wondering, it’s actually Stop Where You Are by Corinne Bailey Rae).

– April and Jackson being civil is so hilariously odd.

– It’s so frustrating what this show has done to Jo’s character. So she has a gun, and that immediately makes her an oddball. Even worse is the fact that she hides it under the bed and monologues about how it kept her safe in the end.

– Brutal and unexpected: Maggie yelling at the babysitter. How completely uncharacteristic of her, I thought at first, but for what it’s worth I appreciate what the show does with this particular subplot as Maggie and Meredith share a poignant scene at the end.

– How awful were those two mothers though, seriously? Not only did one of them sigh in relief in front of the other when she discovered it wasn’t her son who was shot, but she also ended up calling him a murderer later on IN FRONT OF HIS FACE. Amelia’s shocked face during that scene is priceless.

– Amelia’s pep-talk with that kid ended up being the only powerful scene of this episode. Him whispering “I didn’t mean to” as he’s leaving really broke my heart.

– Enough about Owen’s sister already! Just bring her back or stop mentioning her altogether, please?

– Alex stating that he got shot once right in front of Owen, who was also shot from that same traumatic experience but didn’t mention it, wasn’t enough.

– The other case of the week is that of Meredith and Stephanie’s patient, a woman who gets “catfished” by her online boyfriend. How forgettable.

– There’s no way this show is getting rid of Sara Ramirez, right? On the other hand, how amazing was Bailey ridiculing Callie for “chasing tail”?

– I hate how unusual some of the dialogue was this week: “go bite the bullet, jump the gun” not to mention Meredith’s voiceovers, all written just to stimulate a terribly written agenda.

Grey Banter

Zola: Why did Aunt Maggie stop having S-E-X with DeLuca?
Meredith: Because he couldn’t handle that she was his B-O-S-S. Do not ever date a man who can’t handle your P-O-W-E-R.

Amelia: Do you own a gun?
Owen: No, no. No, I fix bullet holes, I don’t make them.

Meredith: Edwards, go! Bite the bullet, go on the date. It’s better than being lonely and crazy like me, or having sex with your phone in the residents’ lounge.

Amelia (to the shooter): I want you to promise me something. Whenever you feel bad about this, I want you to say “it was an accident. I didn’t mean to”. I know that, but you have to know it too. So you have to promise me that you will say “I didn’t mean to”.

Meredith: I did something very good today. I pushed two hearts together. I forwarded the cause of love!

Arizona: I just watched Jackson and April…
Richard: Yeah, I know. So did I. It was a mess. A mess started with overreactions and misunderstandings.

James: You said you were dying!
Sheila: You said you had hair!

Bailey: You’re a chief. She’s a resident. So, you’re giving up your career to chase tail across the country?

Must-Download TunesPlacekeeper by Claire Guerreso
Stole the Show by Parson James

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Published by Chris Chedrawi

A computer science graduate hoping to write his own TV show one day, Chris is a regular guest reviewer on Nad's Reviews and is currently covering Will & Grace and The Americans, among other shows.
View all posts by Chris Chedrawi